10:00am | The Long Beach Water Department (LBWD) announced yesterday that it will offer substantial rewards to local businesses and schools that commit to extensive conservation programs.
The Proven Water Savings Program will soon be available to all Commercial, Industrial & Industril (CII) and Dedicated Irrigation (DI) customers; namely, large institutions like the Memorial Medical Center, the Long Beach Unified School District and California State University Long Beach.
The LBWD will offer either $0.57 for every billing unit (748 gallons) of proven water savings over the life of the project, or one-half of the project’s total cost, whichever is ultimately cheaper. Interested parties will propose their water conservation plan to the LBWD for approval.
“Approximately 30 percent of the water used in Long Beach comes from our CII and Dedicated Irrigation customers,” LBWD General Manager Kevin Wattier said in a press release. “This program will encourage these customers to implement water conservation projects that may not otherwise be feasible due to a lack of funding.
The program is similar to one that is currently being offered to residents that install drought-resistant landscaping in their yards, and the LBWD predicts that more than 300 customers will have finished their new lawns by next Spring.